Next year, students seeking admissions to the 15% all-India quota seats in Maharashtra's engineering colleges need not appear for the state-conducted common entrance test (CET)

From the next academic session, i.e., 2017, the candidates aiming for admissions to engineering colleges in Maharashtra through 15% all-India quota seats need not appear for Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (MHCET) anymore. Unlike 2016, the candidates who clear JEE Mains 2017 will be given preference over CET students.

Centralised Admission Process (CAP) as per CET scores was conducted to fill all-India quota seats in 2016. The seats which remained vacant after CAP were filled using JEE Main scores. However, the procedure did not receive a positive response from the candidates who were seeking admissions under 15% all-India quota. They opposed the procedure, and the matter was moved to Bombay High Court by some students seeking relief.

Dayanand Meshram, Joint Director of Directorate of Technical Education, explained that the modification is under consideration and will be brought into effect from the next academic session.

If everything goes as per schedule, MHCET 2017 will take place on May 11, 2017, for admission to engineering courses in the state. However, official confirmation is still awaited.

In the year 2016, around 38% engineering seats remained vacant in Maharashtra. The engineering admissions received a poor response in Gujarat as more than 45% of the seats were left unfilled. A similar situation occurred in Andhra Pradesh too, where 40% of engineering seats were not filled. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) must grant permissions to new engineering colleges as per demand, and basis the above-mentioned statistics.